Timothy Aylward moved to San Francisco from Santa Fe, N.M., to work as a hairdresser in 2005. These days, he's a bicoastal stylist who's been name-checked in both Allure and Elle. Between seeing clients at Sutter Street's Barrow Salon, he works as a New York City freelancer, doing hair on photo shoots, videos and - especially this month - runway shows.

This is his second season working Fashion Week. In addition to about 25 other shows in London, Milan and Paris, his nine New York shows include Marchesa, Jill Stuart, Yigal Azrouel and Edun, assisting hair icons James Pecis and Mark Hampton.

When we caught up with him, he was prepping for Brooklyn designer Rachel Comey's warehouse presentation. Later, he would head to the Marchesa headquarters as Hampton's first assistant to work with the designers to finalize the hair before Wednesday's show.

Usually, he's working on a team of 10 to 20 stylists and is often prepped just minutes before the show. "With 35 models to be done in usually less than an hour and a half, it can be very chaotic - and very fun," he says. He's worked with a number of high-profile models (Helena Christensen, Alek Wek, Alessandra Ambrosio), but when he is tempted to get nervous, he just remembers that he's been doing this for 10 years. "Your body just goes into a reactionary state."